Espionage affaire: Austria files complaint against German & US intelligence

Austria has filed a legal complaint against Germany’s BND and the United States’ NSA intelligence services alleging activities targeting its authorities and companies, the country’s interior minister said.

"Austria demands
clarification," Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner told
Reuters on Tuesday. "Today we have filed a legal complaint
with the prosecutor's office against an unknown entity due to
secret intelligence services to Austria's
disadvantage."

Adding that Austria’s security authorities have stayed in contact
with their German counterparts, Mikl-Leitner said that "There
is no concrete evidence yet. It's not far-fetched to suspect that
Austria was also spied on.” He went on to say Austria is set
to involve diplomatic and judicial channels in finding a solution
and “full amplification” to the current situation.
“Both ways are important and right,” he told APA news
agency.

On Monday, Chancellor Angela Merkel for the first time officially
commented on the allegations that Germany’s intelligence agency
BND illegally helped the US spy on European firms and officials.

"This ability to carry out its duties in the face of
international terrorism threats is done in cooperation with other
intelligence agencies—and that includes, first and foremost, the
NSA," Merkel said, underlining the idea that the first
priority of Germany's foreign intelligence agency was to ensure
the safety of its own citizens.

US whistleblower and former NSA contractor Edward Snowden had
previously revealed the scale of Transatlantic intelligence
collaboration, stating that the BND has supported the National
Security Agency for at least a decade.

The BND was reportedly passing sensitive records, such as the
telephone numbers and email and IP addresses it obtained, to the
NSA. The French government and the European aviation consortium,
Airbus, have supposedly fallen victim to their activities.

"We are aware that as a large company in the sector, we are a
target and subject of espionage," Airbus said in a statement
to AFP. "However, in this case we are alarmed because there
is concrete suspicion of industrial espionage."